Compost Cookies

I am always on the search for the best cookie. I like having a snack I can keep in a bag around without pomp and circumstance and, in most cases, refrigeration, and if I can make it myself, it’s all the better.I have no idea where I found the recipe for Compost Cookies, because I’ve never been to the Momofuku Milk Bar, but it has changed my life for the insane. If you’re a fan of strange combinations and want to plan these out, that works, or if you have a ton of random shit in your cupboards that you must get rid of, that works, too.This happens to be my favorite combination of flavors, and hopefully, it’ll be yours, too.

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. While that’s happening, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla for a few minutes in an electric mixer to get it fluffy and incorporated together. We didn’t have a mixer, and did this by hand, but if you’re going to go that route, plan on this project with at least three people to pass the bowl around with.2. Add in your eggs and vanilla and beat thoroughly for another ten minutes. The goal is to get this mixture extremely fluffy and big.3. Little by little, add in the dry ingredients and beat for another minute. I cannot stress the importance of salt in this recipe, because it gives a fantastic counterbalance to all the sweet in the cookies!4. With a food processor or a meat tenderizer, smash up your snack foods and baking ingredients. Leave relatively small chunks. We found that if the Frito pieces were too large, they ended up becoming chewy and strange in the cookies. We added the Rollos to the batter itself instead of smashing them together because we didn’t want to have the caramel sticking everything together before we added it.5. Mix in your toppings until just incorporated.6. This is the most important step, and unfortunately, the part you’ll hate the most- DO NOT BAKE THE COOKIES. You must let them chill in the fridge for around an hour, two hours, or they will bake improperly. Do NOT bake with room temperature dough.7. Go play Parcheesi, bother your dog, or sculpt a giraffe out of modeling clay for that timeframe. Or watch Lost. Pass the time and try not to think about the cookies, but when the timer goes off, get your hands or ice cream scoop or serving spoon and scoop out relatively large balls of dough onto a baking sheet. We had a silicone sheet on top, but I’m sure spraying it down would work just fine.8. Bake at 400 for around 10 minutes, and devour. They keep forever, but won’t last for long.In this particular batch, the peanut brittle was the star, melting down perfectly and leaving salty, gooey patches of candy around the dough with the crunchy pretzels. What would you put in your Compost Cookies?